In what might best be described as a drug-war induced flashback to Prohibition-era Chicago, US prosecutors are raising concerns that a high-level Mexican Sinaloa “Cartel” gangster now being held in a downtown jail in the Windy City might be setting the stage for a John Dillinger-like prison break — with a bit of a high-rise James Bond twist.

Attorneys for alleged Sinaloa drug-trafficking organization “kingpin” Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, who is now imprisoned in Chicago awaiting trial, filed a brief in federal court earlier this month accusing the US government of violating their client’s Constitutional rights because he has been denied access to outdoor recreation facilities.

“Vicente [Zambada Niebla] is presumed innocent of any offense yet he is held under conditions that violate due process, the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, as well as International human rights and fundamental norms of human decency,” the pleadings allege. “Vicente has been in custody of the Bureau of Prisons since March of 2010, at the Metropolitan [Correctional] Center in Chicago (“MCC”). Although as a pretrial detainee he is presumed innocent and has violated no BOP regulation, he is in the MCC’s Special Housing Unit (SHU). The cells are approximately 10 x 6 feet.”

The MCC is a high-rise prison complex located in Chicago’s downtown and is surrounded by other, taller skyscrapers. The only outdoor exercise facility in the MCC is on the building’s roof.

In pleadings filed in federal court this past Friday in reaction to Zambada Niebla’s demand for outdoor recreation opportunities, US prosecutors argue against providing him with access to the MCC's rooftop, alleging the following:

The Warden [of the MCC] notes, in particular, defendant’s status as an alleged member of a significant criminal organization with attendant risks both to defendant’s security from nearby buildings and that of the institution should defendant’s organization contemplate an escape.

US prosecutors also contend that Zambada Niebla’s attorneys acknowledge that their client may well be targeted for assassination by rival drug organizations — revealing in pleadings that “defense counsel themselves informed the government that [Zambada Neibla] has been the subject of assassination attempts in Mexico since at least the early 1990s.”

“As the Warden [of Chicago’s MCC] notes, ‘It is physically and logistically impossible to protect Mr. Zambada from an assassination attempt if he were allowed on our rooftop,’” US prosecutors argue in court pleadings in the case. “Thus, there can be little dispute that defendant’s conditions of confinement require significant evaluation, both for his own security and for the security of the community as a flight risk and escape candidate.”

Prohibition Redux

Zambada Niebla was arrested in Mexico in March 2009, extradited to the US in February 2010 and is now facing narco-trafficking charges in federal court in Chicago. He claims in pleadings that the US government entered into a pact with the leadership of the Mexican Sinaloa narco-trafficking organization that supposedly provide its chief narcos with immunity in exchange for them providing US authorities with information that could be used to target other narco-trafficking organizations.

The US government denies that Zambada Niebla was granted immunity by any law enforcement agency for the narco-trafficking crimes spelled out in the indictment against him.

However, US prosecutors do confirm in court filings that another high-level Sinaloa “Cartel” member, Mexican attorney Humberto Loya Castro, has worked as a DEA cooperating source for some 10 years (and as recently as this year) while also working for the Sinaloa organization. Loya Castro is described in Zambada’s legal pleadings as “a close confidante of Joaquin Guzman Loera (Chapo),” the supposed leader of the Sinaloa organization.

Loya Castro also acted as the intermediary representing the Sinaloa organization in its quid pro quo arrangement with the US government, Zambada Niebla’s court pleadings allege. US government court filings also confirm that Loya Castro worked to set up direct cooperating-source relationship between DEA agents and Zambada-Niebla.

That effort ended badly for Zambada Niebla, who was arrested by Mexican authorities in March 2009, hours after meeting with DEA agents at a hotel in Mexico City. Zambada Niebla contends the arrest and his subsequent extradition to the US represented a betrayal of the US government’s promise of immunity.

Whether or not US officials actually granted Zambada Niebla immunity goes to the heart of his case. However, it seems clear from the US government’s court filings that Loya Castro’s long-running status as a cooperative source, or informant, for the US government has been known for some time to the leadership of the Sinaloa organization, including Chapo Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia (Zambada Niebla’s father. Loya Castro actually met with Zambala Niebla’s attorneys in Mexico City, with the knowledge of Ismael Zambada, sometime in 2010, US government court pleadings confirm. The purpose of that meeting, in part, was to discuss the nature of Loya Castro’s cooperation agreement with the US government as part of an effort to develop a legal strategy for Zambada Niebla’s US criminal case.

Yet, despite Loya Castro’s continuing close relationship with the leadership of the Sinaloa organization (including Chapo Guzman) and his simultaneous role as a US informant, Guzman still remains at large — as would be expected if the narco-trafficker does enjoy US protection.

Also, despite his known role as a US informant and his continued contact with Guzman’s people, Loya Castro has not suffered the fate of other known informants in the narco-trafficking world — an agonizing death.

Ironically, among the jobs performed by Loya Castro for the Sinaloa organization, according to a federal indictment returned against him in the mid-1990s (and later dismissed in he wake of his cooperation with the US government) was to assure, by paying off corrupt Mexican officials, that “key members of the [Sinaloa] organization … did not remain in custody” if they were arrested.

And now, within a week of US prosecutors filing a motion in Zambada Niebla’s case seeking to invoke national security procedures — a sign that intelligence agencies such as he CIA may also have a role in his case — the US government has lodged another set of pleadings, filed Sept. 16, raising concerns about a possible escape plan, or even an assassination attempt, being set in motion with respect to Zambada Niebla.

This might all be written off as conspiracy-theory fiction, if it were not for the fact that Zambada Niebla’s case is playing out in real time in the 21st Century drug war in the heart of Chicago — a city famous for its Prohibition-era gangster sagas and bigger-than-life "public enemies," like John Dillinger.

The warden of the Chicago MCC, Catherine L. Linaweaver, lays it all out in black and white for us, like something right out of a film noir script, in a declaration she filed with the court this past Friday, Sept. 16:

Specifically, my decision to house Mr. Zambada in SHU [the Special Houstin Unit at MCC] is based on the broad publicity his case has received, his access to unlimited outside resources, law enforcement’s portrayal of this case as the largest international drug conspiracy case in Chicago’s history, and the perception he is currently a cooperating witness, which places not only his life in great danger, but also that of staff who are directly supervising him.

Historically, in the BOP [Bureau of Prisons], inmates with unlimited resources have attempted to compromise staff and other inmates, which in documented cases has resulted in significant breaches of security. [Emphasis added.]

… Based on my 21 years of correctional experience, I can honestly say I would not be able to guarantee Mr. Zambada’s safety and that of the public if I were forced to allow Mr. Zambada to recreate on our [the MCC”s] rooftop. Mr. Zambada would make an easy target as he would be the only inmate allowed on the rooftop at the time, and there are numerous high-rise buildings surrounding this facility that neither myself nor fellow law enforcement have any control over. Attacks could easily be staged from those buildings.

Further, the likelihood of an attempted escape by any means is very real. As a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, Mr. Zambada has the resources to effectuate such an escape. In fact, the Sinaloa Cartel funded the escape of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 2001 form a Mexican jail. [Emphasis added.]

Mr. Guzman is still at large and his estimated net worth, according to Forbes magazine, is over $1 billion. By allowing Mr. Zambada access to our rooftop, I would not only fail to uphold the BOP’s mission to protect society by confining offenders in a safe and appropriately secure environment, but I would also risk the lives of staff, the public and Mr. Zambada himself.

The manner in which the developments of these events are brushed under the rug by the vast majority of Americans is just astonishing. Are you Americans so utterly gullible or is it that since you have been ingrained practically since childbirth to be blindly patriotic that the implications of the ensuing trail for this "big fish" will completely be blown off by you awareness. Everything that is going on in Mexico is a direct result of US intervention in the affairs of a foreing "ally" nation, and look at the results so far: close to 50,000 potential Mexican Patriots that could have eventually overwhelmed US Homeland security interests. This is a very effective means of dealing with the vast hordes of surging anti-american mentalities that ,again, potentially could have threatend the US at its doorstep. Everyone else has to formally cross oceans to present a crediblethreat to the US, and the newest security measures as of 9/11 have so far "prevented" another similar scenario.

The flip side is that all or some of these claims by Zambada being true, which, by the way that the US government is handling this particular instance would lead one to speculate that there is some veracity amongst those statments, then what....The US government is just as well doing something of the sort within its own borders by artificially intensifying this drug "epidemic" and setting its targets on eliminating these antisocial criminal elements from society in a sort of innovative scheme.

The fact is that there are men behind the scenes who have decided how social reality in America should proceed and it is nothing like any of you mostly media affect drones of the US honneycomb imagine it. It is a pity because not only are millions of Mexicans affected by this...and I mean impoverished and middle class citizens who are struggling to maintain some semblence of dignity throughout this clusterfuck, but millions of Americans who fall by the wayside are being herded into an institutional labyrinth that is sure to consume them until their bitter end, all this while the other millions of Americans scoff at them at a glance, surely too busy to even care, since most eagerly acheiving the American dream or simply just trying too keep up in the fast lane.The thing about it is that it is just small percentage of "leaders" who are determining the arrangement of our continent's social order mostly at the expense of Mexico.

But hey sit there on your screen and just keep doing what your doing and pretend that this conflict in Mexico is just like the NFL complete with your favorite team, favorite players, including stats and, here's the kicker, it's own little fantasy league were couch potatoes can pretend to build your own cartel.

Bill Conroy still spreading that bullshit as though it has some relationship to reality. An article like this only serves one purpose - that of vicente. He knows he's cooked and he has to keep stirring the media pot. No one else will pay any attention any more but Insight/Conroy will do ANYTHING to further their cause. And BB keeps it going as if it had some relevance.

Im very familiar with this building. NO way in heck could he escape. No way. Not even with a helicopter. True, he could possibly be shot from another building but he aint going to escape. Can you guys give me some opinion on the the danger level in san luis potosi to an american.Thanks!

"...has the resources to effectuate such an escape." Effectuate - are you kidding me! Nobody uses words like effectuate except someone who is trying very hard to impress the reader with his superior intellect.

Journalists want to reach as many people as possible. Direct, concise, easily understood writing conveys the point and the information best. But if you want the reader to be impressed with your education - the education he doesn't have - you use words like effectuate.

Conroy puts himself out as the enemy of the conservative, military-industrial complex and the champion of the poor and the downtrodden. But his writing is inflammatory ("escape by any means is very real") and pseudo-intellectual (another one of those words, ha, ha).

ANNO.... You Have your Head Up You Ass. You don't know shit from Shinola about anything, especially anything concerning military covert OPS... AND as too, what is really going on in Mexico? You have no clue. Your so far in the dark, your just down right laughable. IMO Your nothing more than a pimple on an Elephants Ass looking for a place to pop, and trying to stroke your ego. I would love to have you in my Task Force for just one day.... I love to hear guys like you holler, Mom-ma!.

This Zambada probably has enough paper to buy himself out of a Mexican jail but in the states I don't see it happening. And it isn't the movies so I don't see Commando Anthrax with el Macho Prieto and M1 going to the rescue.

Anonymous said: "Journalists want to reach as many people as possible. Direct, concise, easily understood writing conveys the point and the information best. But if you want the reader to be impressed with your education - the education he doesn't have - you use words like effectuate."

???? Are you serious, or do you really despise people who think for themselves so much that you never learned to read just to spite them? The passage you're referring to in the story that includes the word "effectuate" is a quote from the warden of the prison, not Conroy's words. It's from the court record -- which is why it's set off in italics. Geez, learn to read before you spout off and waste everyone's time with you're illiterate ramblings.

"Everything that is going on in Mexico is a direct result of US intervention in the affairs of a foreing "ally" nation,"...

yeap..all the crime in Mexico is the result of US involvement..sure it is...you didn't break the chair...the chair is broken ..right ?

JAJAJAAA...poor USA so far from god and so close to Mexico

DON'T GO TO SAN LUIS POTOSI...IF YOU DO SAY GOOD BY TO EVERYBODY..PET YOUR DOG FOR THE LAST TIME...MAKE YOUR WILL...SETTLE ALL YOUR SCORES WITH OLD ENEMYS, ETC..stay drunk ..it will give you courage to face death...and good luck